


The place where you can come (we've got a present for you)

by hc_whiplashed_ty



Series: How Dongsookie came to be Donghyuckie, and how Taeyong and Donghyuckie came to be. [3]
Category: NCT (Band), SM Rookies
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan-centric, Tears, Trans Character, Trans Lee Donghyuck, Trans Male Character, happy tears, like... donghyuck is so moved he cries, mark lets the grownups do the talking, taeyong and johnny are like parents here tho, title inspired by home by seventeen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23766304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hc_whiplashed_ty/pseuds/hc_whiplashed_ty
Summary: “I’m sorry, it’s just... I’m really thankful…”“It’s fine.” He heard Taeyong say from his left, his hyung was now petting his hair.“We’ve got you, Donghyuckie.” Johnny said from his seat in Taeyong’s chair, and Donghyuck truly believed him.Or.Donghyuck's hyungs don't want him to hurt himself again.
Series: How Dongsookie came to be Donghyuckie, and how Taeyong and Donghyuckie came to be. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700797
Comments: 4
Kudos: 128





	The place where you can come (we've got a present for you)

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of a happier one. Next chapter is gonna be a slice of Donghyuck's story of self discovery ^^

The day that Donghyuck was supposed to go to rehearsals again, he was shaking nervous. It was a combination between nervousness and excitement though. He really was looking forward to go back to his routine and rehearsals. Doctor Kim had given him the thumbs up to go back to practice and to bind again (with the correct precautions, that Donghyuck was planning to ignore all over again) in a consult that Taeyong had insisted to go to as soon as Donghyuck’s month resting was up. He had gotten his binder on as soon as Taeyong, the manager and him had gotten home. And instead of being in his room like most days, he lounged in the living room in the afternoon and hung with his hyungs until dinner time. 

The day that followed was the day everything was going to go back to normal. He went to school. He had been layering a couple of t-shirts under his uniform dressing shirt and didn’t take his blazer off even if the afternoon was hot, but now that was over, when he started feeling hot, he slid the yellow blazer off his shoulders and placed it on his chair’s backrest with a little smile on his face. When school was over, he practically ran to the company and into its bathrooms to change his uniform for his practice clothes.

Once he entered the practice room, his hyungs and dongsaengs greeted him cheerfully and without further ado, they started practicing.

The day went on without any mishaps and once rehearsal was over, all the members went back to the dorms.

He should have been exhausted after giving it his all and being so active again all of a sudden, but he wasn’t. He was high in endorphins, but he did want to take a quick shower before sleep to clean the sweat all over him, though.

He grabbed his pajamas to take with him to the bathroom, and a clean pair of packing boxers, he always saved as much money as he could to either buy packing boxers, which were cheaper than an actual packer, or buy a binder. He showered while listening to music so he also took his cellphone with him.

_ Could you come to my room for a sec? _

His phone suddenly lit up with a message from Taeyong.

**_I’m about to take a shower, hyung :c._ **

Donghyuck tapped quickly and waited for a response before starting to undress.

_ Yaaaa~~~ Come on. It won’t take long. We’ve got a gift for you. _

Besides being excited for the present his hyung had mentioned, he was also curious about who  _ “we”  _ was. So he exited the bathroom, leaving his things there because he figured he wouldn’t be long.

Donghyuck knocked on Taeyong’s door gently. He expected Taeyong to tell him that he could come in, but instead his hyung opened the door himself with hopeful eyes and a little smile. Taeyong welcomed him in and as Donghyuck entered the room, he saw Mark leaning against Taeyong’s desk and Johnny sitting on the desk chair. They were both smiling at him too and Donghyuck couldn’t help but feeling a bit of an odd vibe from the three of them.

“Well, as I said in the message, we bought something for you.” Taeyong went to his bed and grabbed a box that Donghyuck hadn’t noticed was there before.

It really looked like a mailing box, so Donghyuck assumed it had just arrived. Taeyong gave him the brownish mail box and Donghyuck took it in his hands while muttering his thanks.

“What is it?” Donghyuck asked, while reading the sender’s address. It was from the States, but the package didn’t say a company’s name or anything, it was really discreet.

“Open it and see.” Mark answered, excitement clear in his voice.

Donghyuck did as he was told, opening the mailing box and finding a plastic bag inside. It was a mailing bag, gray coloured.  _ Why are they so careful?  _ Donghyuck asked in his mind, a bit taken aback by the excessive discreteness of the package. But he soon understood the reasons behind the packaging because when he saw inside the gray plastic bag, he found three rolls of a product he had wanted for a long time. 

Donghyuck kept staring at the contents in the bag, eyes a bit more widened than before.

“Do you know what it is?” Johnny was the first one to talk since a few seconds had passed and Donghyuck still hadn’t said anything.

The youngest of the four was snapped out of his head and quickly nodded. Excitement filling his tummy and a smile spreading through his face.

Donghyuck pulled out one of the rolls of tape from the bag and felt it on his hand.

“We figured it would be better for your ribs and lungs to use something like this instead of the binder. Even though there are still some instructions you have to follow.” Taeyong spoke a bit more firmly saying the thing about the instructions because as they all knew by that time, Donghyuck wasn’t big on those regarding to binding safety.

“But hyung, how did you afford this?” Donghyuck knew what trans tape was but never got to buy it since he would have to purchase a roll every 2 months and if he was honest, he wouldn’t be able to afford the tape and all the other stuff he had to buy with only the money his mom sent him from Jeju and the small allowance the company gave him.

They were rolls of tape that was specially created for people to bind their chests a bit more safely in regards to breathing and chest compression because with said product, that compression was non-existing. Donghyuck had watched a lot of videos of different people showing how they put it on and the results afterwards and it made him a bit jealous. Another upside to the product was that you could leave it on for days, three or five at a time to be more specific and then give your chest tissue a rest for a couple of days so as to not damage it if you wanted surgery, but the point is that you could wear it at night without affecting your breathing at all.

“The three of us chipped in.” Taeyong said answering his previous question and Donghyuck felt about ready to cry.

“Hyuck, you can try it and tell us if you feel comfortable using it, and if you do then we can divide the price by four so that you can keep using it on the condition that you use it safely and take two days of rest before putting it on again.” Johnny said suddenly, making Donghyuck turn his head quickly to see him.

“Hyung, no. I mean, it’s nice what you guys are trying to do but I don’t want you guys spending money on me like that.” Donghyuck lowered his head, avoiding eye contact. His cheeks felt a bit hot and he could feel his hyungs eyes on him.

“Donghyuck, really it’s fine. Divided by four, we can afford it. We can order the pack of three rolls that would last you a few months and even if we only save just a little bit of money a week we can afford it. It wouldn’t be expensive at all and it wouldn’t affect our personal expenses.” Said Taeyong. It was quiet for a couple of seconds. “We just don’t want to see you get hurt again. And if it’s gonna make you feel more comfortable like this, then it’s worth it.” Taeyong spoke a bit softer this time, gently placing his hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder, a gesture almost every member had grown used to but didn’t find less comforting nonetheless.

Donghyuck felt more tears starting to blur his vision and this time they spilled from his eyes. He felt his heart being almost warm with love for his three hyungs, all the fears and insecurities and burdens felt very little in that moment.

“But you have to promise me that if it comes the time when someone can’t afford it anymore, you’ll tell me.” Donghyuck was trying not to choke on his tears.

“Ya, Donghyuck.” Mark stepped forward from Taeyong’s desk and enveloped the younger one in a hug. 

Donghyuck buried his face in Mark’s neck while trying to calm down.

“I’m sorry, it’s just... I’m really thankful…”

“It’s fine.” He heard Taeyong say from his left, his hyung was now petting his hair.

“We’ve got you, Donghyuckie.” Johnny said from his seat in Taeyong’s chair, and Donghyuck truly believed him.

He put the tape on in the bathroom after his shower and that night was the first night he slept in just a t-shirt at the dorm. He thought he hadn’t tightened it enough, but he was still pretty flat, being small-chested, and he would get better the more he did it as well.

  
Of course Donghyuck had always thought he lived with his friends. But before, if someone were to ask him where  _ home _ was for him, he would have responded that it was in Jeju with his parents. Now, if someone were to ask him that very same question, he’d say he had two  _ homes _ , two places where he could go if the sky above him came crashing down.

**Author's Note:**

> Yayyyy! I actually just ordered a roll of trans tape. The wait is probably gonna be a bit longer than usual because of corona, tho.  
> And yeah, actually this chapter is set in 2015 and trans tape actually came around in 2017 but... u know, plot.


End file.
